KOREA REP OF (SOUTH)
{some insights into another world for European DX ears and eyes. wb. }
Some updates on the South Korean MW scene by Chris Kadlec:
630 KBS 1 Radio Suncheon is off the air. Transmission was scheduled to cease for 6 months starting on May 23rd, 2020, but as of November 23rd, the station remains off the air with no word when / if it will resume broadcasting.
810 MBC Daegu transmission has been temporarily suspended as of Febr 1, 2020. It is off the air with no further details.
990 Changwon (MBC Gyeongnam) was taken off the air due to a new development taking over its tower site. It was scheduled to go back on the air by July 2018 in the Buk-myeon area (rural county to the north). As of last month, correspondence to MBC Gyeongnam has given no answer as to when this
station will return or if it will be rebuilt. It is currently off the air.
1134 Seoul KBS 3R has been off the air since September 15th for replacing transmitting equipment. It was scheduled to go back on the air Dec 4th. As of the 5th, it has been confirmed that the station is still not on the air.
1188 FEBC moved to a new tower site in the Daebu-do coastal area of suburban Ansan from Siheung, turning on the new facilities on October 12, 2020. They have a nice new building beside it as well. The towers are located at 37 13 14.3 N 126 33 29.1 E in an area just west of the old Universal Studios theme park site.
1332 MBC Chungju went off the air on May 1, 2020. The station is scheduled to be off the air for one year and return on May 1, 2021.
1350 MBC Samcheok was taken off the air in 2018 due to a new development taking over its tower site. It moved up the road and constructed a new building and new mast at 37 27 43.7 N 129 08 26.8 E and has been on the air for some time (perhaps seamlessly).
1440 Pyeongtaek (Camp Humphreys) AFN is - as already known - broadcasting at 5 kW, confirmed by the fact that it is using the old AFN Yongsan 5 kW transmitter that previously operated on 1530 kHz. All previously-used equipment from US Forces Area I (Seoul and north) was moved to the new
military HQ at Camp Humphreys, with Camp Casey (1197 kHz) shutting down February 15, 2018 (already widely reported) while staying on the air in Kunsan and Daegu, leaving no remaining AFN stations in the suburbs between Seoul and the border.
[Check out Chris' excellent radio website at
(via RealDX io Group; NZL DX Times, NZRDXL, Dec 29)
(Top News 31 Dec 2020)